


Home for the Holidays

by Imasupermuteant



Category: DCU - Comicverse
Genre: Christmas, Holidays, M/M, cloying sentimentality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-03
Updated: 2012-05-03
Packaged: 2017-11-04 18:44:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/397022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Imasupermuteant/pseuds/Imasupermuteant
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Booster learns the true meaning of Christmas. </p><p>Spoilers: It's "presents".</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Booster's First Christmas

Booster didn't really know what was going on. Suddenly the colors green and red were  _everywhere_  and there was jingling. And a little old lady had tried to run him over with her shopping cart when he was buying new underwear at Target.  
  
Pretty much everyone had gone insane. At least, that's what he told Ted after he had run back to Justice League headquarters with fear in his heart.  
  
"What?" Ted said when Booster first brought up his concerns.  
  
"Insanity!" Booster repeated. "Bells! Singing! Evil old women!"  
  
For a moment before he answered, Beetle got that (adorable) little crease between his eyebrows that meant he was trying to puzzle out what Booster meant with the available evidence and coming up with the square root of negative one.  
  
"You mean... Christmas?"  
  
"What?" Booster asked, He'd been a little too busy thinking about his impending doom and the adorability of Ted's crease to really be listening. Not to mention the fact that the word Ted had just uttered was completely meaningless.  
  
"Christmas." Ted said, "That's why everyone is acting differently."  
  
"What's that?"  
  
Ted blinked. "Um. You don't have Christmas in the future? Or any winter holiday... I mean, it's mostly about celebrating solstice and the joy of capitalism when you think about it, but--"  
  
"Oh!" Booster cried, "It's a  _holiday_ . I feel much better. Unless it's the sort of holiday with ritual sacrifices. You're not going to bleed someone out on an altar so that the sun will rise again, right?"  
  
"Probably not."  
  
"Not even a goat?"  
  
"Not as far as I know."  
  
Booster sniffed in disappointment. The past was decidedly less barbaric and violent than he had been lead to believe.  
  
"Mostly it's about family togetherness and good-will towards other human beings..." Ted began.  
  
Booster yawned. No goat mutilation? Lamest holiday ever.  
  
"...And presents!"  
  
"Presents?"  
  
"Yes, my materialistic friend. Presents."  
  
Booster grinned, "So it's likes  _Solis Invicti_ !"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"It's the holiday of light. We have bonfires and food and presents!"  
  
"...And you sacrifice a goat?" Ted joked.  
  
"No," Booster said, "We burn one."  
  
Ted waited for Booster to start laughing, a good old 'Bwa-ha-ha' to show that he'd been making fun but...  
  
"Really." Booster said, "We symbolically roast a goat. Then we eat it."  
  
"Err, okay? What does the eating symbolize?"  
  
"Nothing. Why would you waste a perfectly good roast goat?"  
  
These were the sort of awkward moments that reminded Ted that his best friend was from the future. The future where they sacrificed farm animals.  
  
"Anyway..." Booster continued, "I got you a present for this Solis but I guess I can't give it to you since it hasn't been invented yet." He shrugged but Ted could see a little bit of a frown in the corner of Booster's mouth. Something a little solemn.  
  
Ted thought about how he would feel if he were suddenly in a place where Christmas didn't exist. He decided that it would suck.  
  
"Here's what we're going to do." He said decisively. "You're going to come over to my house this Christmas and then when Solis-whatever rolls around we'll... Do something. I don't know if I can kill a farm animal.  
  
"That's okay." Booster said with an achingly sweet smile, "It's the thought that counts."  
  
A few weeks later, watching the almost innocent shine in Booster's eyes as he unwrapped a bright blue teddy bear bearing the phrase "baby's first Christmas!" across it's chest in friendly letters, Ted had a feeling as though this would be the first of many fantastic Chrismases.  
  
Even if they were burning a papier mache goat later that evening.  



	2. Homecoming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jaime realizes that not everyone is quite so happy during the holiday season.

It all started when Jaime's mother suggested that he invite his "caped" friends over for their annual Christmas party. He'd resisted at first (did the heroing have to get into  _every_  part of his life?) but the party would give him the chance to get Gardner over to the house for Milagro. And making Milagro happy was sort of the  _purpose_  of Christmas, as Jaime's mother reminded him.   
  
So he made up some invitations in photoshop and sent them out to the titans and most of the old justice league folks who knew Ted and to Batman (who was definitely not going to come) and hoped desperately that most of them would say no.   
  
Most of them said yes.   
  
Which is what leads Jaime to where he is today, standing in his living room, handing out cups of eggnog to various costumed vigilantes, wondering how it is his life turned out this way.   
  
"Nice party, Kid." Guy tells him before heading over to Milagro with what appears to be a fake green lantern ring with a pink bow on it. At least Jaime hopes it's fake.   
  
Desperately, desperately hopes it's fake.   
  
The doorbell is ringing and Jaime looks to the sound only to see his mother open the door to greet Robin.   
  
And  _Batman_ .   
  
Batman, who is sliding through the door like some kind of ninja-tank in his pointy cowl and cape and handing Jaime's mother what looks like a bottle of wine.   
  
Batman.   
  
This shit is too much.   
  
Robin heads right for him with a wry, understanding smile, "He's only here because he doesn't want to go to Green Arrow's party and Canary bet him."   
  
" _Batman_ ." Jaime whispers to his friend in shock. "In my house!"   
  
"Yeah..." Tim says back with that little lip twitch that means he's laughing his ass off at Jaime's expense.   
  
"I can't do this."   
  
"Kid!" Guy appears again just as Jaime lets his head fall into his hands in despair, "Didn't you invite Booster to this shindig? He's usually all over this presents and booze crap."   
  
Jaime  _had_  invited Booster Gold, but--   
  
"Um... No! No I must have overlooked him. How rude! I'll just.. uh... run over to his place and see if he wants to join us."   
  
And Jaime is out the door with a handy excuse to no longer be in the most awkward (Batman!) brain-breaking situation of his life.   
  
And while he could probably just loiter in a park or something until he's calmed down, Jaime decides to maybe put a little truth into his copout, so he armors up (and Khaji Da is laughing his little alien  _butt_  off) and heads (full speed) for Booster's apartment.   
  
The place is... Well, not quite a nice as Jaime thinks it should be, considering what he knows about Booster. Third floor on a reasonably nice apartment building with no elevator, Jaime can hear at least one screaming kid and one party as he climbs up.   
  
He almost doesn't believe he's in the right place, but Khaji is making it clear that Booster is right on the other side of the door.   
  
Booster's surprising middle-class apartment is nothing compared to Batman shaking hands with Jaime's mom. Jaime knocks.   
  
"Hello?" The man who opens the door is certainly Booster- _like_ . Much like the apartment, he's a little bit too run-down and  _normal_  for Jaime to truly believe he's the actual Booster Gold.   
  
Booster is wearing a pair of gray sweatpants with 'GothamU' written on them in blocky red letters and a red sweatshirt with the hood pulled up over hair that  _has_  to be horribly mussed. He's holding a ratty blue teddy bear on which has been lovingly screen-printed with the phrase 'Baby's First Christmas'.   
  
Pretty much Booster looks like the world's most disgruntled three-year old. Jaime smiles nervously.   
  
"So.." He starts, "I'm having this Christmas party and I'm pretty sure I invited you but I wanted to be sure, mostly because Batman showed up and I'm freaking a little... but you should still totally come and--"   
  
"Christmas?" Booster asks. Is he drunk? Jaime thinks he might be drunk. "Is it Christmas already?"   
  
Awkward. "Ummm... no. Tomorrow is Christmas eve."   
  
"Oh." Booster shuffles a little, "It's so hard to tell when, you know, the  _actual_  Christmas is and when people are just getting  _ready_  for Christmas."   
  
It is? Jaime is pretty certain that if Booster isn't drunk he's  _on_  something.   
  
"Ted-- Ted used to call me to tell me when it was."   
  
The statement is so echoingly painful that Jaime doesn't quite know what to do. Or think for that matter.   
  
"I--" Booster seems to realize that he's standing in his pajamas in the hallway, "You should probably go back to your party."   
  
Awkward. Still, Jaime is a hero, and he knows what heroes do. "Hey, man. Do you want to, like, talk about it?"   
  
"I--" Booster clutches his bear a little bit and blinks those big bruised-looking eyes before nodding and letting Jaime walk past him into his warmly furnished apartment. They sit together on the couch and there's a moment of silence when Jaime doesn't really know what to say and Booster isn't talking.   
  
"We kissed for the first time during Christmas." Booster says suddenly, curling around his bear and looking anywhere but Jaime's face.   
  
Jaime's a little glad about that because  _shit_ . He didn't even know that Kord and Booster were... well, anything but best friends really.   
  
"And just a few years ago we did that thing where you kill a perfectly good tree and put it's corpse up in the house. We put little goats all over it."   
  
Jaime wonders if the things Booster says make sense in any universe.   
  
"I--" Booster tugs at the ears of his bear, "I don't know what to do."   
  
"Well..." Jaime starts even though he doesn't really know what to do. He wonders if some day he'll meet someone who will be the other half of his self, if he'll look this broken if that person leaves. "You could come to the party at my house?"   
  
"I--"   
  
"My mom is cooking something awesome and we're going to watch the muppets."   
  
Booster seems to think a little but Jaime's hopeful smile (of course) wins out, "Okay."   
  
"Great. Dude this is going to be awesome. We even got Batman to come. But we gotta fly fast, right? 'Cause it's pretty far away and we don't want to miss the popcorn."   
  
Booster fakes a little bit of a smile and by the time they get to Jaime's house he's pretty much his normal self. Jaime's mother gives him cocoa and Milagro shows him her action figures and Booster smiles just a little bit less than he did before Jaime knew him.   
  
But he still smiles.


End file.
